Building Community Improves Student Performance in First-Year Computing Courses

• In Event: Poster Session 16
  In Poster Session: Examining Learning Environments Across Diverse Contexts

Abstract

First-year computing courses are gateway courses with low passing rates, resulting in student attrition and transfers out of computer science degrees. Our commuter school serves mostly underrepresented minority students, an at-risk population given their weak computing and mathematical background. The lack of a sense of community at commuter schools may hinder student learning. We studied the impact of creating learning communities (LCs) on student retention and performance in first-year computing courses. Our results show that when students take computational courses as part of the LC, retention rates increase and students perform significantly better; LCs also promote class attendance. The nature of students’ relationships with classmates may play a critical role in the improvement of student performance observed in LC students.

Authors

• Candido Cabo, New York City College of Technology - CUNY

• Ashwin Satyanarayana, New York City College of Technology